First: AN ALL-IN-CAPS THANK YOU!!! For suggesting I try ACR and check to see if there is a difference in results. Yes, there certainly is. ACR does way better with the problems then does Aperture. So, it looks like I will make the dreaded 600+ gigabyte switch to Lightroom/ACR after all. (UGH!)

I just uploaded two phat jpgs converted in ACR here and here for everyone's viewing pleasure. No Ps, just levels and nothing else. There is still a dramatic shift in grain structure, smearing and colorization in the shadows only visible at 100% and higher. (Yes, I do pixel-peep and proud of it:-) So, we will wait and see what Sony has to say...

But, fair is fair and ACR does make a surprising difference to the better. Way to go, Adobe. And again, thanks to all of you for your input. I am indeed most appreciative of all the advice!

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Clint

That is a huge improvement! I am glad to see we are now figuring out where the problem is.

But taking a comparative look between the two images of the lady, it looks like you might have some presets enabled in Aperture. I notice this since the teeth have been whitened as well as the eyes. White balance or RAW processing engine by default shouldn't do this, but presets, auto corrects, or the like can. If some of these presets are being applied unknowingly to the whole image, that can cause problems. So I would recommend double checking how Aperture is configured and make sure that you don't have some settings enabled that, while beneficial when touching up certain spots is fine, that they are not applying themselves to the whole picture.

It also looks like the contrast, vibrance, or saturation is turned up a little higher in Aperture too by default. See how the blues in the scarf are being crushed and how much darker the eyebrows and eyeliner is in the Aperture image. While some of it can be pleasing, it can ruin an image if not controlled properly.

Both of the issues I mentioned above might be attributing to your posterization if those settings are not being applied locally and, instead, being applied to the whole image.